Destination BrazilBeato impressed by Iguazu Falls, moved by samba

Christ the Redeemer overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's second largest city after São Paulo

By BRENDALY BEATO

BHSB Journalism Student

Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest country in the world by both land area and population.  In Brazil there are many raucous carnival festivals, featuring parade floats, flamboyant costumes and samba music and dance.

Samba is the traditional music of the country and one of the essential additions to any festive atmosphere. It can be danced at any time of the year. The joy of a country as colorful and joyful as Brazil is in its rhythm. Indeed, this rhythm is already a tradition.

Today, Brazil is major tourist attraction. It is also one of the top destinations on my bucket list of places to visit. If I visited Brazil, I would take my family with me so they can come to know the country as well, and learn from the culture of the Brazilians. A round trip to Brazil from New York would cost between $850.00 and $900.00.

In Brazil I would to go to the Iguazu Falls, which is on the border with Argentina. The name “Iguazu” comes from the Tupí-Guaraní languages, which remain among the most important indigenous langue groupings in South America. The Tupí-Guaraní word "y" means water, and the word "ûasú" means big.

The Iguazu River rises near the city of Curitiba. For most of its course, the river flows through Brazil. However, most of the falls are on the Argentine side of the border.

Still, Iguazu is a very famous place and many tourists go there. They visit the falls to have a good time. Near Iguazu there are two airports. One is the Argentine Cataratas del Iguazú International Airport. The other is the Brazilian Foz do Iguaçu International Airport. 

Iguazu Falls: On border with Argentina

In Brazil they speak Portuguese because Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese people from Portugal, which is a country in Europe next to Spain. Brazil has many places where rich people as tourists can visit in order to have a great time and vacation.

One attraction of Brazil is Copacabana. People often call this the world's most famous beach.
It runs for three miles in front of the densely populated residential area of Rio de Janeiro. 



Brendaly Beato is from the Dominican Republic, and has been in New York for little more than 18 months. She says school is good because she learns to be better every day through the new skills and strategies she develops.

Under no illusions about UFC challengeEspinal spells out tough road ahead

Mixed martial arts tournaments

Espinal: Ambition to convert his wrestling
 skills into becoming a UFC champion fighter

By ANTONIO ESPINAL

BHSB Journalism Student

Throughout life, you face challenges. At times, they may be hard. At other times, they may be easy. One enormous challenge I seek for myself is to become not just a good fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) league of mixed martial arts. I want to be one of its greatest.

This isn’t some far-fetched idea. I am already a competitive award-winning wrestler. I won the award of most valuable player for my team, and I’m going to keep entering tournaments to become more competitive.

UFC is the largest mixed martial arts promotor in the world, and most of the sport’s top-ranked are featured by it.

It’s where two fighters enter an octagon-shaped cage, and then it’s, ‘May the best fighter win,’ Dana White, UFC president, has explained in interviews.

In this kind of martial-art you don’t only need strength and skills, you also need the courage to keep on going even when you’re about to lose.

Pankration

The sport goes back thousands of years – to when the ancient Greeks were around. The Greeks called mixed martial arts "pankration," where two people fight at full strength.

Ancient Greek pankration: "All force"

I realized I really wanted to join this sport when I found myself trying to get into it. Ever since I was a little child, I had loved play-fighting, but I could never join a team that involved fighting until the seventh grade, when I joined a wrestling team.

Being a part of a team showed me that, when you want something, you should go and get it.

When I train and practice, I have one scenario in my mind. I imagine being under water and unable to breathe. If you were in that situation, what would you want to do? All you would want to do is breathe. When you want to be successful as badly as you want to breathe, that’s when you’ll will achieve success.

Success requires being dedicated to the sport even while you’re training. You have to look at it like this: It’s not just a sport, it’s a lifestyle.

Hard work

Can anybody do the sport? Yes, anybody can, in theory. The thing that not everyone can do is handle the mentality that is necessary to keep you motivated – especially at your worst moments when you’re trying to reach your goal.

To reach your goal, you may take many years.

You’re one of the fighters, but you are not your own boss, which means you don’t get paid what you want. You get paid what your boss wants. If you want to get paid well, you’re going to have to reach the top.

However, there are other people competing against you. Which means you’re going to have to work harder than they do because, at the end of the day, it comes down to who puts in more work.

Espinal: seeks to leverage his wrestling

Antonio Espinal was born in Dominican Republic and arrived in the United States in 2003. He believes that there are a lot of opportunities in this country. One of his favorite pastimes is wrestling because it taught him how to be a team leader – and a leader for himself.

Our school's five classic "looks"A breakdown of student dress

There are multiple fashion styles out there.
Bronx High School of Business has its own unique set (Picture from Mintyferret)

        
By Johanny Colon
With files and presentation input from
Cynthia Torres

There are all kinds of looks among young kids and Bronx High School of Business has them all – or, at least, we have the best ones. We recently trolled the schools’ hallways to see how big a variety exists – and how many different styles we could discover. We came up with a list we think captures the essence of the looks of BHSB. 

We have High Fashion and Old Fashioned. We’ve got Casual, but Elegant and just plain Don’t Care. We’d never call anyone nerdy, but we do have a Studious set. We explain these because they were the most common looks and styles here in the Taft building.

But we also want to stress that everybody is unique and different in their own weird, normal way...

Be sure to also scroll down to "Joe-Joe's Perspective"
following the style categories

BHSB student/credit Torres

Don’t Care: Anything you “throw on”…

Some people look like they don’t care about their outfit, but they actually do. They just want to give the impression that they don’t care. Don't be fooled.

Some “Don’t Cares” wear just sweat pants and a T-shirt. Others wear boots with baggy jeans and a nice shirt. It’s all for image.

There are those who take the “Don’t Care” look very seriously. In fact, they might really not care. For them, sandals and socks can usually be worn too. The socks would be regular, and may or may not be colorful. These people would also wear Nike or Adidas sandals.

Basically, anything you throw on would be considered “Don’t Care.”

Studious: A Nerd or Geek who can be cool…

Studious means a studier, and that is basically nerdy and geekish. Your typical nerd on television would wear glasses and have braces. But in real life, nerds dress like regular people. For example, they wear belts, and may have glasses, button down shirts, and running shoes or some random Nikes.

Nerds also wear a lot of hats. All that said, there are some cute, nice-dressing nerds and geeks. Some can wear Air Jordans and expensive belts. { not to be a hypocrite} Having style is having a good healthy look. To be honest, nerds are cool people.

BHSB student/credit Torres

Old Fashioned: A 1990s look for some…

Some people like the olden days, so they dress as if they were “back-in-the-day.” Some wear bootcut or baggy jeans with a long baggy shirt and a bandana, sweat-band or head-band.
Some do certain hairstyles that look like they’re from the 1990’s. Examples are curly Afro, two buns or two high pony tails. Wearing colorful colors are also from the old times – especially bright colors like pink, yellow, green, orange and blue. Being old fashioned is good too because that’s when fashion was at its best and people started to show their true colors. That was good.

BHSB student/credit Torres

Casual, but Elegant: Best if everyone dressed this way…

People who like to dress nice, but casual is the best because if anything pops up – perhaps they have a party to attend — they won’t be looking bummy. This look is additionally good because people are neither overdressed nor bummy.

To be honest, we think it would be best if everyone dressed as Casual, but Elegant so, this way, everyone can be prepared. We know a lot of people who decide to dress either overboard or bummy. We also know they end up having a big problem when they have a plan that popped up out of nowhere.

That’s why Casual, but Elegant is the best way to dress.
You're simply always prepared to deal with the unexpected!



High Fashion: Looking classy…

High fashion is wearing expensive brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Polo, Armani, Bape, True Religion and Canadian Goose. These are some high-end fashion lines that are good looking and really expensive.

Most of our national population wears these brands and rocks these brands. Some of the brands may cost $100, or $200, or even $400. When you wear these things, you put a name out for yourself like, “Damn, I got money," or like, “I look popping.”

Joe-Joe’s Perspective

All fashion aside, people shouldn’t care what anybody has to say about you and what you wear. Dress as yourself and in what you want. No matter what, you'll still look good with anything you wear. WINK!!!!!!!

My style is very, very different from those we highlight here. I’m like a “different breed,” because I love to be original. I could try to explain my unexplainable fashion. But I’m always looking wavy – no matter what. If pressed, I'd say my style is a combination of “Don’t Care,” “Studious,” “Old fashioned,” “Causal, but Elegant” and “High fashion.”  These styles are what help me look my best. I’m the “bomb,” but I’ve explained all these styles so you guys – our readers – can at least get some understanding of my style and my school style. 

The Authors:

Johanny “Joe-Joe” Colon is looking to become an international accountant. She grew up in the South Bronx, and today lives in a busy house with her mother, stepdad, sister, three dogs, two turtles, two fish – and her Uncle Joe. 

Joe-Joe researched and wrote all the categories except Old Fashioned.

Torres: Snapped many of the pictures

Cynthia Torres has a crazy ambition: to eat a big jar of Nutella ­– the hazelnut sandwich spread. But that’s not all she eats. Cynthia’s also keen on crab legs, while seafood in general is one of her favorite foods. Cynthia was born in the Bronx and has 10 siblings.

Cynthia researched and wrote Old Fashioned, typed up the entire project, and snapped all the BHSB fashion pictures.

Owusu sets sights on "impressive" Alianza Ultimate goal: Manchester United

Seeking to turn professional, Owusu (top right) hopes Alianza de Futbol will grant him a trial.

By EMMANUEL OWUSU

BHSB Journalism Student

A challenge facing any soccer player who would like to turn professional is how to get discovered by a big club. Many aspiring players just hope a scout will show up at their school or club. Alianza de Futbol is an organization that helps youngsters realize their dream.

As an aspiring professional myself, I am impressed by the way Alianza helps youth. The organization told Fox News soccer columnist, Ben Evansky, that more than 50 of its alums have turned professional since it launched its showcase tournaments in 2008.

"They're an impressive outfit, and they're doing great work," Mr. Evansky told me in an interview.

Alianza doesn’t represent the players it promotes. Nor does the group make money from them. But what it does is a huge plus for the community.

"Usually when people do showcases or try-outs – especially if it's an independent company – there's a financial part to it, and we don't take any part of that," Joaquín Escoto, the Alianza director, told Fox News.

Owusu favorite: Cristiano Ronaldo

"We pay for everything – and for (the teams), there are no transfer fees."

That, in my book, is highly commendable. And while the project was created with Latino players in mind, the Alianza director stressed it is very much open to all. I come from Ghana in West Africa. I am now actively seeking to get involved in Alianza.

Because Alianza is a place where they help people who have a lot of soccer talent to become professionals, I would like to try out with the group. I want to become a professional so that I can (hopefully) become a soccer legend. I play forward and love scoring goals.

My three best goals are two from free-kicks and one that was a game winner to land a youth championship at a soccer camp. In that championship game, there were only 30 seconds left when I shot the ball from about 35 feet away, and made it. I am always a starter, and in addition to the forward position, I can also play on the wings.

Sports marketers Richard Copeland and Brad Rothenberg came up with the idea for Alianza, Mr. Evansky reported. Mr. Rothenberg's father, Alan, was president of U.S. Soccer from 1990 to 1998.

Alanzia's press release on

 its latest player placements

While he was president he oversaw the 1994 World Cup, which the U.S. hosted. He also oversaw the creation of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States.

My dream is to eventually play for Manchester United of the English Premier League. I love soccer, and one day I would like to meet one of my favorite players, Cristiano Ronaldo. He is the multi-capped Portugal player who is also a forward for Real Madrid in Spain.

I am currently trying out for a youth soccer club that apparently thinks I am very good, and wants me to play for them. I hope that Alianza can watch me; I care about winning for the team before I care about my stats.

At recent Alianza finals in Miami, Florida, a record number of professional invitations were realized, according to a press release from the organization.

The release said that after "four days of training and matches in front of more than 30 professional scouts, the 56 finalists ... received invitations from different teams to try to reach their dreams of becoming professional soccer players."

The players played against local teams or academies. Led by the Assistant Coach of the U-20 Mexico National Team, they received professional invitations from MLS, USL, Ascenso MX and Liga MX – all of which are in the United States or Mexico.

Some of the teams who offered invitations to them are FC Dallas, OKC Energy FC and Pachuca FC.

Former Colombia midfielder
Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama

The players included Salvador Martinez from Mission, TX, who was recognized by the international soccer legend Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama as the player with the most invitations.

Alianza broke records from previous events because this year all the players received a total of 216 invitations from teams of the Liga MX, Ascenso MX, MLS and USL.

Jose Levario was the best college prospect from all the 9,500 registered players. The Golden Gloves was awarded to Francis Yapor from Houston, TX.

May I wish the best to all these players. What a joy it would be to follow in their footsteps.

Emmanuel Owusu is originally from Ghana. His dream destination is England because, he says, they have the best soccer league on the planet. See Emmanuel's earlier report on his soccer goals by clicking here.